Strangest Apple Store robbery yet: Thieves attack with bear spray

Vancouver police are investigating a brazen robbery at an Apple Store Monday night in which three male suspects allegedly sprayed 40 people with a chemical mix designed to ward off bears as they swiped an undetermined amount of Apple laptops, iPads and iPods.

According to the National Post in Canada, police are still looking for the suspects, who fled by car and dumped some of the items they swiped before doing so. A handful of the people hit at the Oakridge Mall with the cayenne pepper-based spray were treated by paramedics, according to the National Post.

[ LOOK BACK: The ugly, scary year in Apple iPhone, iPad thefts ]

Theft of Apple devices has become a serious concern for device owners and law enforcement. An armed robbery of an Apple Store in Paris on New Year's Eve involved more than $1 million in stolen goods. 

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in December pointed to thefts of iPhones and iPads as being the main reason crime numbers have inched up in the Big Apple.

2012 was marked by a wide variety of ugly Apple product thefts, including at stores, on the streets and at airports. There was even a report of thief stealing an iPhone from a baby. 

Bob Brown tracks network research in his Alpha Doggs blog and Facebook page, as well on Twitter and Google +.

Read more about anti-malware in Network World's Anti-malware section.

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